 "Satwik Chirag")
India’s Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty had to work hard to overcome their first-round opponents in the men’s doubles draw of the India Open Super 750 tournament at the KD Jadhav Indoor Hall in New Delhi on Wednesday, January 17. They beat their Chinese Taipei opponents Fan Jen Lee and Fan Chih Lee in a three-set thriller 21-15, 19-21 and 21-15.
Only Indians to Win on Second Day
Satwik-Chirag were also the only Indians to win their match on the day after Ashwini Ponappa-Tanisha Crasto in women’s doubles, Krishna Prasad Garaga and B Sai Pratheek in men’s doubles, Ashwani Bhatt K and Sikha Gautam in women’s doubles and Srikanth Kidambi in men’s singles failed to win their matches.
Chirag and Sawtik built a lead in the first set and continued to remain ahead of their opponents from Taipei. There were no hiccups and the Indian dup won the first set 21-15.
Too late to Surge Ahead in Second Set
However, in the second set, after the mid-game interval where they led the match 11-7, Sat-Chi suddenly lost many points on the trot, before finally realising that their opponents were just one point away from the game point at 19-15. The Indians then came back and took three consecutive points and forced their opponents to take a break and reanalyse their game.
Miscommunication cost Sat-Chi one point, but Chirag, with his brilliant net play got them back in it and saved one of the two game points. They were unable to save the second one and the match moved to the third and decider set.
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Need to Break the Rhythm, Change Strategy
Speaking at the mixed zone to the media after the match, Satwik touched upon this issue of not being able to finish the match after winning the first game and conceding a flurry of points in the second, He said that they and the coach need to change the strategy to break the rhythm.
“It all started from Malaysia Open where we were down throughout the tournament, even in semis, we were 14-20 down in the semis. That is something we have to work on in the second set,” said the 23-year-old, who was spotted with a wrapped shoulder, which he laughed off as not an injury but a strategy to make his opponents think that he was injured.
“We are losing five to six points in a row. It happened today as well. So we need to work with our coach and find out a way to break the rhythm and change the strategy,” Satwik added further.
The comeback everyone waited for
Everyone in the stadium was waiting for the comeback of the Sat-Chi and it did happen as they surged to an 11-7 lead at the mid-game interval. They carried on with their momentum and did not let their opponents come back in the third set, wrapping it up at 21-16. They will now face yet another Taipei pair PH Yang and CY Lu in the Round of 16 to move closer to their aim of winning the India Open for the first time since it turned into a Super 750 tournament.
“Happy with the win.The way we started the year. We are excited to play in the India Open. Last time we missed it because of my injury, but this time we want to go deep into the tournament and make up for the last time,” said Satwik. The Sat-Chi pairing won the India Open in 2022 when it was treated as a Super 500 tournament by the BWF.
